An Austrian court has sentenced a 21-year-old man to 15 years in prison for planning an attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna. Beran A, an Austrian citizen, was found guilty of terrorism-related offences on Thursday at the state court in Wiener Neustadt.
Beran A was arrested on 7 August 2024, the day before the first of three scheduled concerts by the US pop star in the Austrian capital. All three dates were subsequently cancelled. The defendant pleaded guilty to charges related to the planned attack, which carried a maximum sentence of 20 years.
The court heard that Beran A attempted to illegally buy weapons including a machine gun and hand grenade, and followed instructions from an Islamic State video to produce a small amount of explosive. He also admitted to travelling to Dubai in March 2024 with the intention of carrying out an attack but suffered a panic attack when he tried to strike.
Beran A was also accused of plotting with two school friends to carry out separate attacks earlier in 2024. One of the co-defendants, Arda K, was sentenced to 12 years in prison after being found guilty of all charges. The third man remains in custody in Saudi Arabia.
In his final statement, Beran A said: 'I would just like to say that I am sorry.' His lawyer argued that he was not a leader or ideological mastermind, but the jury found him guilty on all but two of 15 charges.
